Are you not getting any views on your new Instagram Reels? Well, you are not alone. Many people fail to get enough views and engagement on their reels. But worry not, as I have compiled a checklist you should follow to grow your Instagram account and Reels views.
Your Reels are not getting views on Instagram because it is not properly optimized for the algorithm. You must include trending music, niche-specific hashtags, and user engagement elements and be consistent to get more views on Reels.
Your Reels will only get views if the Instagram algorithm promotes it to the users. If it doesn’t, you won’t get any views. So it is essential to optimize your Reels for the Instagram algorithm so that it recommends your reels to more people.
Not optimizing Reels in the right way is the number one reason why many people fail to get any view.
Let’s look at what to do when your Reels are not getting views on Instagram.
Why Are My Reels Not Getting Views?
First, let’s start by looking at why your reels are not getting views on the platform. Below are some common reasons why this happens.
- Poor User Engagement: The Instagram algorithm suggests videos with the most engagement. If a reels get more comments, shares, likes, or followers, then the algorithm suggests it more. So you must add user engagement elements to your reels.
- Not Using Trending Music: You should use trending music on your reels to get more views and likes. Trending music will have a huge following base, increasing the likelihood of your reels getting more views.
- Not Using The Hashtags: Do you know that using correct hashtags will boost your reels views dramatically? Instagram lets people follow hashtags, so you should include the most popular hashtags in your niche to increase views.
- Not Optimizing Reels: You should adequately optimize the reels for both users and the Instagram algorithm. You can find more on this later in this article.
- Instagram Might Have Gone Down: If Instagram is down, no one will be able to view any reel on the platform. It can be a reason why your reels aren’t getting any views.
How To Get More Reels Views
Now that you are aware of common reasons why your reels are not getting enough views, let’s look at things to improve your reels to boost views and likes.
Make sure to go through the entire checklist and ensure your Reels meet all of them.
Create And Post Trending Reels
Posting reels on trending topics is the number one thing you need to do to increase the views and likes on your reels.
When a particular topic is popular on Instagram reels, the algorithm suggests such content more. There will be a massive surge in the number of people making such reels and users consuming them too.
So you should leverage it.
The key here is to create trending reels that are currently popular. When a particular trend is popular, users will search for more reels on the same topic, and your likelihood of increasing reels views increases.
But now you might be wondering how to find trending reels topics, right? Let’s see how.
How To Find Trending Reels?
Follow the steps below to find trending topics for your next reel.
- Open Instagram and switch to the reels section.
- Scroll through the page until you find songs with an arrow mark symbol right next to them. (Refer to the screenshot).
If there’s an arrow next to the audio of an Instagram reel, it means the topic is currently trending, and more users are watching such reels.
Now it’s just a matter of time and your creativity to come up with Reels with the same topic and music to gain massive views.
You may also find recently watched reels on Facebook to find new ideas.
Use Currently Trending Reels Music
Using trending music is key to reaching more people on Instagram. Whenever a piece of new music is popular on Instagram reels, more people create content around it, and in turn, more people watch such reels.
So you should always be up to date and create reels with trending music. Acting fast will give you more views and momentum than usual.
One more thing to keep in mind is that when a new song is viral, a vast number of people try to make reels around it. So you should create your reels and publish them as fast as possible.
Now how do you find trending music and reels?
How To Find Trending Reels Music?
Open the Instagram Explore page.
Tap random reels and scroll down. Tap the song cover when you find a reel with an arrow mark next to the song name.
It will show you the entire list of reels using the same music.
Go through a few reels and see user engagement metrics like likes and comments. If a good number of reels have outstanding likes and comments, then it is trending music currently.
Add Proper Hashtags
You might be using hashtags on your reels, but if it’s not the right ones, it will negatively impact the views of your reels.
You need to take care of certain things while using hashtags on Instagram.
Back in the day, many people used hashtags to spam Instagram and increase views. Once Instagram figured it out, the algorithm started penalizing accounts that used many unrelated hashtags.
Don’t add just about any hashtags to your reels. It will do more harm than good.
Below are some key things you should keep an eye on while selecting hashtags to add to your reels:
- It should be related to your niche
- Hashtags should be trending and have a good number of followers
- Do not use more than 3- 5 hashtags on your reels
Yes, you heard it right. Instagram officially recommends using between 3 to 5 hashtags for broadening visibility. (As shared on Instagram’s creator handle)
Where To Find Hashtags
- Open Instagram
- Search for #yourtopic [replace yourtopic with your niche. For example, if you are into traveling, search #travel]
- Switch to the Tags section
- You’ll find a list of trending hashtags related to your niche with number of posts.
- Tap on any hashtag to view content posted by other people and check likes and comments.
Repeat the process above and find five hashtags to use in your new reel.
Add the same to your reels when you publish them to increase your reels views on Instagram.
Collaborate With Your Friends
Recently, Instagram introduced a new feature where you can collaborate with your friends when posting new content on the platform. The same applies to Reels, too.
Collaborating is something similar to tagging, but it is different.
When you invite a person to collaborate, if they accept it, the reels will reach all the followers of the other person. The reels will also be visible on both of your main Instagram profiles as well.
When selecting people to collaborate with, ensure they have a considerable follower base so that the reels reaches many more people, increasing its views and likes.
How To Collaborate on Instagram?
- Open Instagram
- Tap the plus button to upload new content
- Switch to Reels
- Select the video
- Tap Next
- Tap Tag people on the publishing page
- Tap Invite Collaborator
- Search and find the person
- Tap to Add as a collaborator
- Now publish the reels
A notification will be sent to the other person; if they accept it, the reels will appear on both of your Instagram profiles.
Increase Reels Watch Time
Instagram is a social media platform that wants to keep users on it as long as possible.
If a particular reels makes people watch it more and stay on the platform for longer then the Instagram algorithm will recommend it more than other reels with less watch time.
So the key is to make people watch the entire reels.
If many people skip your reels before completely watching them, it’s a red flag in the view of the Instagram algorithm. The algorithm finds users do find anything interesting in this reel and will demote it.
Below are some tips to improve the watch time and let people watch your reels from the start to the end.
Add More Cuts
In a study, it is found that people tend to watch videos with more cuts than videos with fewer cuts.
Fast-paced videos with more cuts and dramatic elements increase curiosity, making them watch the entire video and increasing the watch time.
Use Unique Transitions
Adding unique transitions between different clips is another way to make people stay longer and watch your reels fully.
Add Texts
Adding text elements like hardcoded subtitles or other info will make people stay longer. The next time, try adding some text to your reels and see how it performs.
Focus More On A Specific Niche
Building a highly targeted audience is absolutely necessary. So you should focus more on a specific niche rather than posting random reels of just about anything.
There should be a reason why a person views your reels and follow you on Instagram.
Say, for example, someone saw one of your travel reels and follows your Instagram account. The next day you post some random cooking or funny videos; it’s going to be annoying for the person who followed you.
So, if your account is about travel content, niche down and publish only travel-related content. If you have some other niches in mind, start a new Instagram account and post related reels accordingly.
So the takeaway is to target a specific niche and post related content to grow an audience with similar interests. This will be very useful if you plan to do paid collaborations in the future.
Invite People To Comment And Engage
Comments and user engagements are two metrics that the Instagram algorithm favors the most. The algorithm wants to recommend the best of the best video to its users.
If a specific reel has high engagement, like comments or shares, then the algorithm recommends that particular reel to more people, eventually increasing the number of views.
So if your video gets more comments, user engagement, or high watch time, it’s more likely that the algorithm will recommend it to more Instagram users generating tons of views.
Well, how do you increase engagement and the number of comments?
You need to add elements to your video to make them comment or share it with their friends. You may post a couple of videos like this, which should positively impact your Instagram account.
Once a person engages with one of your reels, the same person will see more of your content in the future.
Post At The Right Time
Posting at the right time matters a lot.
It’s evident that if you post your reels when most of your followers are online, you will get many more views than usual.
If yours is a creator or business Instagram account, you will get some insanely valuable insight like when is your followers active during the day, which days they are most active in a week, and so on.
You may use this data to post your reels at the right time to increase the likes, views, and comments in the initial few hours.
Let’s see how to view when most of your followers are active on Instagram:
- Open Instagram and head to your profile
- Tap Professional Dashboard
- Tap See all next to Account Insights
- Tap Total followers under Overview
- Now scroll down to find Most Active Times
- Use the back and forward buttons to see the most active time for each day. The bigger the blue bar, the more the number of followers are online.
Once you have the data, post your reels accordingly, and your reels will surely get more views.
Post Consistently
Not just with Instagram, consistency is the key to growing your social media account.
If you consistently post reels on your Instagram account, you will surely get a lot more followers and views.
The algorithm likes people who create more content and make them stay on the platform longer.
So you should come up with a proper schedule for uploading and posting reels.
The frequency can be anything as per your constraints. It can be once a week, twice a week, or even once every day. But you must ensure you post consistently for at least a couple of weeks to see positive growth and more reel views.
Tip: You may create a couple of reels beforehand and draft them so that you will never miss your planned schedule.
Share Reels As Stories
If your account already has a good number of followers, then you must leverage the power of Instagram Stories to get views on reels.
You must be wondering how I can get views on my reels via stories, right?
Well, the Instagram algorithm works differently for stories and reels. When it comes to stories, they will be recommended to your followers only. On the other hand, reels will be recommended to just about anyone on Instagram.
Some of your followers might not even see your reels in the first place.
Let’s see how to get more reels views via Instagram stories.
After posting the reel, tap the Share button and tap ‘Add reel to your story‘.
This way, all your story viewers will be able to see your new reels.
You can either share your reels as a story right away after posting it or wait for some time and get some views and likes before adding them as a story.
Use Out Of The Ordinary Captions
Captions are one of many factors that decide whether a person should watch reels in the first place.
Many people look at the captions even before watching the reels. The caption will be visible even before the reels start to play.
You should add captions to your reels that build anticipation and curiosity. This way, your viewer will be eager to know what’s in your reels and increase watch time and other user engagement metrics like comments, likes, and shares.
Before hitting that publish button, brainstorm a little bit and add some cool captions to be a stiletto in a room full of flats.
You may even search for interesting captions and quotes online as well.
Leverage Other Social Media Platforms
If you have many followers on other social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, etc., you may leverage it to bring views to your reels.
Now you might be wondering how I can get views on my reels if I have followers on other social media platforms. Let’s see how.
After posting the reels to your Instagram account, share it across all your other social media handles and let your followers know about it.
Not everyone will follow you on every social media platform. This way, people who are not following you on Instagram will get to see your reels, and they might follow you.
Do not forget to add your Instagram account on TikTok!
This is an excellent method to increase both reels view and Instagram followers.
Grow An Audience
Growing an audience is important!
The Instagram algorithm may find one of your reels and recommend it to many people. And that particular reel may get many views, shares, and comments. That’s it. None of your other reels will get the same number of views.
Nothing concerning the algorithm is in our hands. But there is something that we can do to get consistent views across all our reels.
If you have a good follower base, all your reels will get many views. If not, your reels will struggle to get any views.
You should grow your Instagram account to reach more people and generate more reels views.
The simple way to do so is by making every people who visit your Instagram profile follow you. Create some killer posts, reels, and videos that will make people want to follow you for future updates.
Add Texts
It is found that adding text to your videos will increase watch time and interaction. If applicable, add some nice text and animations to your reels to make them pop out. This way, you will be able to increase the watch time and make the Instagram algorithm recommend it to more people.
Not just by adding text but do whatever it takes to get more user engagement.
Other Reasons Why Your Are Not Getting Reels Views
Now let’s see some of the technical reasons why you’re not getting reels views even when you have a good follower base.
Instagram Reels Is Down
Occasionally, the Instagram servers might go down, interrupting the service for users across the globe. This year alone, Instagram has gone down more than three times.
Well, how do you find out if Instagram is down?
- Visit downdetector.com
- Type Instagram in the search box and hit search
- It will now show you if Instagram services are down.
Scroll down a bit and look at the Instagram outages reported in the last 24 hours. This way, you’ll be able to see if Instagram faced any outages in the past few hours. If yes, this is a reason why your reels have few views.
If you post a reel and Instagram goes down, none of your followers will be able to see it. If this happens, there is nothing we can do about it.
We need to wait until the Instagram server is up again.
Wrapping Up
Not optimizing your reels properly is the number one reason why it does not get any views.
Adding correct hashtags, using trending music, creating reels about trending topics, adding collaborators, etc., are some of the few ways you can increase reels views on Instagram.
Closely go through the checklist, refer back in the future, and ensure you optimize your reels the right way to increase the likelihood of the Instagram algorithm recommending the reels to more people and generating more views.
I hope you found reasons why your reels are not getting views and how to fix it.
